# Flea Market Pipe Score! & a bunch of Qs



## beercritic (Feb 13, 2011)

Been a long time since I picked up a pipe. Laid them down with cigars, after getting addicted to cigarettes (damned things!)

Anyway, recently took up cigars again, with NO craving, so I was looking for a pipe to "roach out" really good cigars in. Saw these at the flea market and snagged them up. Now smelling the remnants of tobacco in the pipes, has given me a hankering to try pipe tobacco again.

This was the score:



So what do I have?

The first 2 pipes say "Viking Classic" #1 is glossy, #2 is more of a matte finish. (Are these Dr Grabows?)

#3 says "Regal Dr. Graybow"

#4 says "Real Briar" and appears to have no other markings. The "whiteness" of the picture is wrong. It appears to be silver, but has no patina. And the "silver" has been affixed to the pipe, as one of the loops is not entirely tight.

All have very snug stems. The first 2 pipes have a faint "straight" tobacco aroma, the latter 2 have obviously been used for aromatic tobacco. #4 is the only one with a "cake," and it looks like a dandy cake.

The very next day, the wife (bless her) found a marble pipe rack at a garage sale for $1.

So, pipes area apparently calling me back. Oh! The pipes came with cleaners and a really nice tamping tool. Too cool, eh?

____________________________________

Now for the start of the never ending questions:

1) Are unopened tins, say 25 years old, still good? How about the tins that had been opened? Somewhere, I have packed (God knows where) a couple pipes and several tins of tobacco.

2) How about pipes that have been sitting in a box for the same time-frame?

3) I was really fond of one mildly aromatic tobacco. Of course they quit making it. It was from Amphoria (sp?) and came in a rectangular blue tin. The store display had a small porcelain jar with ornate blue hand painting, if that helps. What was it called? And does anyone make anything else like it, these days?

4) My nearest Tobacconist is an hour away and has a limited supply of cigars, no pipe tobacco and mostly sells wine. So, I'll be forced to shop online for such, or suffer the likes of Prince Albert and similar. Who has good prices? and do any of them sell samplers of say, a dozen or so varieties in 2 or 3 bowl increments? I'd ideally like to try around a dozen mildly aromatic and the same of mild "straight" tobaccos.

5) How pricy are Meerschaum pipes, these days? I had a small one (bird? claws holding an orb). Just as it was starting to look really nice, it was stolen. How long does it take to color a Meerschaum? It seemed to take forever with that pipe. But, I was an impatient lad.

6) Is it difficult to clean pipe stems that have 2 small holes, instead of a "slot"? The first 2 pipes have that design.

Well, that's it for now. I'm sure I'll have more Qs in the future. Meanwhile I'll be checking the FAQ(s).

Any assistance would be most appreciated.

joe


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## dirletra (Apr 14, 2009)

Although I'm still really new to pipes, the only one I can answer is the first, I believe the Viking classics are made by bjarne. They look nice.


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## Natedogg (Jun 21, 2010)

That's a nice haul there! I'm too tired to coherently answer your questions right now though.


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## CWL (Mar 25, 2010)

Pipe tobacco is like good wine, age only improves it... as long as it hasn't dried out. If your tins of 25-year old tobacco is unopened (no broken seal), it should still be good to smoke. 

Why don't you list the blends of the old tins you have. If you have found some super-rare tobaccos, it may be worthwhile to sell them.


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## Blue_2 (Jan 25, 2011)

Getting late myself, but I did find a few mentions of Amphora Blue.







1) Are unopened tins, say 25 years old, still good? How about the tins that had been opened? Somewhere, I have packed (God knows where) a couple pipes and several tins of tobacco.

As long as the seal is intact, possibly.


2) How about pipes that have been sitting in a box for the same time-frame?

If they were yours, theyre probably fine.


4) My nearest Tobacconist is an hour away and has a limited supply of cigars, no pipe tobacco and mostly sells wine. So, I'll be forced to shop online for such, or suffer the likes of Prince Albert and similar. Who has good prices? and do any of them sell samplers of say, a dozen or so varieties in 2 or 3 bowl increments? I'd ideally like to try around a dozen mildly aromatic and the same of mild "straight" tobaccos.

Try the Newbie Sampler Trade!!


5) How pricy are Meerschaum pipes, these days? I had a small one (bird? claws holding an orb). Just as it was starting to look really nice, it was stolen. How long does it take to color a Meerschaum? It seemed to take forever with that pipe. But, I was an impatient lad.

If you're buying Meerschaum, go with the good stuff. Sinan Altinok and Fikri Baki are two good carvers that I know of. There's just no comparison.


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## Stonedog (Mar 9, 2011)

beercritic said:


> ...
> 
> 4) My nearest Tobacconist is an hour away and has a limited supply of cigars, no pipe tobacco and mostly sells wine. So, I'll be forced to shop online for such, or *suffer the likes of Prince Albert* and similar. Who has good prices? and do any of them sell samplers of say, a dozen or so varieties in 2 or 3 bowl increments? I'd ideally like to try around a dozen mildly aromatic and the same of mild "straight" tobaccos.
> 
> ...


Don't knock Prince Albert, it has a pretty decent following here on puff. It's a good mild nutty flavor especially when enjoyed in a corn cob.

Like the others have said, jump into the Newbie Sampler Trade. It's a great way to sample a number of blends with minimal investment. This noob sure benefited from it!


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## DSturg369 (Apr 6, 2008)

Stonedog said:


> Don't knock Prince Albert, it has a pretty decent following here on puff. It's a good mild nutty flavor especially when enjoyed in a corn cob.
> 
> Like the others have said, jump into the Newbie Sampler Trade. It's a great way to sample a number of blends with minimal investment. This noob sure benefited from it!


+1 on both of these.

Choosing tobaccos of choice is a personal matter. Try all you can and pick what you like to stock up on.

As for the pipes, any way you can get close-up pics or a give a more detailed description of the markings on them? Would help a lot. But based what you have provided, I would agree with Travis about #1 and #2 being Bjarnes.


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## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

Feel free to knock anything be it cheap or pricy. We're thick skinned.


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## RJpuffs (Jan 27, 2008)

dirletra said:


> Although I'm still really new to pipes, the only one I can answer is the first, I believe the Viking classics are were made by bjarne. They look nice.


The Viking line was the Bjarne "seconds" brand, not that there is anything wrong with them being seconds, usually cosmetic issues that they could not market with the real brandname. Bjarne unfortunately passed away a few years back, and the company shut down. So it is a collectible, in itself.


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## Stonedog (Mar 9, 2011)

RJpuffs said:


> The Viking line was the Bjarne "seconds" brand, not that there is anything wrong with them being seconds, usually cosmetic issues that they could not market with the real brandname. Bjarne unfortunately passed away a few years back, and the company shut down. So it is a collectible, in itself.


Not to get too far off track, but who makes Viking Classics now? PipesAndCigars.com lists them as Bjarne. Has production moved to Italy or something?


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## pffintuff (Apr 20, 2011)

Great looking pipes.

I'll take on Q #5 cause I just dealt with that one.
Baki meers can be had for about $150 to $250 and up. IMP, another good name, can be had for under $100 up to about $150 on their ebay store. As far as coloring, that depends on how much you smoke it. If you smoke it like I do, several times a day, you should have nice coloring in a few weeks to a few months.


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## DSturg369 (Apr 6, 2008)

Stonedog said:


> ...who makes Viking Classics now? PipesAndCigars.com lists them as Bjarne. Has production moved to Italy or something?


Yes, it has. I read where the production was moved to a "well known pipe making company" there.


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## Stonedog (Mar 9, 2011)

DSturg369 said:


> Yes, it has. I read where the production was moved to a "well known pipe making company" there.


Well crap... I've been enjoying my Houston Light quite a bit and was happy thinking it was one of the few still made up in Denmark. Stanwell has moved to Italy too... It feels like I came to pipe smoking a bit late and all of the original makers have died off leaving Italy as the big producer now.

*beercritic*, enjoy those Vikings, they're no longer made (in Denmark).


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## dirletra (Apr 14, 2009)

Aah! Interesting info on the bjarne pipes! Thanks for the correction.


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## Nachman (Oct 16, 2010)

Stonedog said:


> Well crap... I've been enjoying my Houston Light quite a bit and was happy thinking it was one of the few still made up in Denmark. Stanwell has moved to Italy too... It feels like I came to pipe smoking a bit late and all of the original makers have died off leaving Italy as the big producer now.
> 
> *beercritic*, enjoy those Vikings, they're no longer made (in Denmark).


Nording


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## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

Stonedog said:


> Well crap... I've been enjoying my Houston Light quite a bit and was happy thinking it was one of the few still made up in Denmark. Stanwell has moved to Italy too... It feels like I came to pipe smoking a bit late and all of the original makers have died off leaving Italy as the big producer now.
> 
> *beercritic*, enjoy those Vikings, they're no longer made (in Denmark).


Buy a Johs. He carved a lot of the last real Bjarnes anyhow.


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## Stonedog (Mar 9, 2011)

drastic_quench said:


> Buy a Johs. He carved a lot of the last real Bjarnes anyhow.


Nording and Jos, got it. What about Neerup?

I promised myself I wouldn't waste half the day browsing smokingpipes and pipesandcigars, so I'll wait until tonight to go check them out.


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## DSturg369 (Apr 6, 2008)

Found this...

"Neerup pipes are made by a man named Peder Jeppensen who worked as Eric Nordings top carver for about 25 years."

It further states that Neerup pipes are fantastic smokers and I couldn't find a single negative comment on them.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

DSturg369 said:


> Yes, it has. I read where the production was moved to a "well known pipe making company" there.


In a secret location. Stanwell is in on the conspiracy too.


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## owaindav (Mar 7, 2010)

DSturg369 said:


> Found this...
> 
> "Neerup pipes are made by a man named Peder Jeppensen who worked as Eric Nordings top carver for about 25 years."
> 
> It further states that Neerup pipes are fantastic smokers and I couldn't find a single negative comment on them.


I have 2 Neerups and they're as good of smokers as anything I've got! Great pipes and I got them from Peder at an event. Price was absolutely right too! $145 for the pair.


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## beercritic (Feb 13, 2011)

Been a few days. I certainly didn't intend on abandoning this thread. Thanks for all the info. So this is what I've managed to grok.

The first 2 pipes (Viking Classic) in the photo are factory seconds are from a company called Bjarne from Denmark. Now extinct, and might be collectable. Too bad, I'm gonna smoke the hell out of them. As for #4, I'll get a crisper, more detailed photo.

My old tins may still be good and my old pipes most likely are. Cool. I was thinking the Amphora was called something fancier than "Blue" But, that jar is definitely the one in the store display. I asked the manager how much he wanted for it, wouldn't sell the thing. He did offer to purchase a store display for me, 10% off for a case lot and scored a free jar. Pleasantly surprised that the jar contained several ounces of the same blend. I still have the jar; they're hard to find, and are seriously expensive.

Noobie tobacco swap sounds great! Except I have nothing to swap, several varieties of "gas station" tobacco wouldn't be a fair trade, IMO. So are there any pipe tobacco sellers that offer a printed catalog? Hard to make informed decisions from scads of web pages. 

A good Meerschaum, will have to wait, as it would interfere with my tobacco fund (which has curtailed my funding for Single Malt Scotches and Single Barrel Bourbons). 

Thanks again for all the replies. I do intend to be more active on Puff.


Cheers!

joe


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## NarJar (May 9, 2011)

beercritic said:


> Been a few days. I certainly didn't intend on abandoning this thread. Thanks for all the info. So this is what I've managed to grok.
> 
> The first 2 pipes (Viking Classic) in the photo are factory seconds are from a company called Bjarne from Denmark. Now extinct, and might be collectable. Too bad, I'm gonna smoke the hell out of them. As for #4, I'll get a crisper, more detailed photo.
> 
> ...


You can still participate in the Newbie Sampler. Normally how it works is you sign up, and you are paired with an Experienced Pipe Smoker (EPS). The EPS will send you a PM telling you which tobacco they would like, as well as their address. Then, you can get on an online retailer, and purchase the tobacco they would like, and have it ship directly to them. Once they receive the tobacco they requested, they send out a package to you with several different kinds/types of tobacco for you to try.

So, it really is minimal work on your part. Also, from all the trades I have seen, there is no way the newbie could purchase all the different samples which the EPS sends for the same price that they paid for the tobacco for the EPS.


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## beercritic (Feb 13, 2011)

NarJar said:


> Normally how it works is you sign up, and you are paired with an Experienced Pipe Smoker (EPS). The EPS will send you a PM telling you which tobacco they would like, as well as their address. Then, you can get on an online retailer, and purchase the tobacco they would like, and have it ship directly to them. .


Thanks. That swap info will help a lot. Certainly get me up-to-speed, quicker. Much appreciated, amigo.

joe


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